I just finished leading an 8 week Adult Faith Formation class called ‘The Mystery of God’ by Bishop Robert Barron and Word on Fire ministries. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to explore some tough questions about God such as His nature and providence, the problem of evil in our world, and the mystery of the Holy Trinity (to name a few). Since class time is very limited, I always encourage the participants to email me with any troubling questions they may have. I recently received a question about Hell that had such an interesting slant that I felt compelled to share the question, and my response, in an SCT blog post.

Simple Catholic Snapshots

The barrage is relentless

Slowly and imperceptibly we are dying

We must find a way out

We must become the silence

There’s an old story about how best to cook a frog. The parable points out that if you throw a frog into a pot of boiling water, the frog will instantly react and jump out of the pot, thus saving his life. If, on the other hand, you place the frog into a pot of warmish water, the frog is happy enough and stays put. The parable continues that if you then start to slowly raise the temperature of the water, even to boiling, the frog will not notice and eventually will meet his demise.

Simple Catholic Snapshots

In a Previous Post, I concluded that to be a true Catholic you must:
1) Be Validly Baptized
2) Believe the Required Teachings of the Catholic Church, and
3) Live a Sacramental Life in Communion with the Body of Christ – The Church.

The Required Teachings (#2) of the Catholic Church are called Dogmas and Doctrines

Dogmas and Doctrines can not change

Dogmas and Doctrines only apply to issues of Faith and Morals

Disciplines are teachings and practices that can change

Belief in Disciplines is optional.

In this post I’ll explore what is meant by a Dogma, a Doctrine and a Discipline. I’ll describe in concept where they come from and how they are form our faith. Finally to get specific, I’ll present a list of the 258 Dogmas of the Catholic Church (that I could find) that all the faithful must believe.

Simple Catholic Snapshots

How would you explain Catholic Christianity to an outsider? Could you even begin to concisely describe your faith? After a bit of struggling, here is what I think it means, and what it takes, to be Catholic.

To Be Catholic Means:

Be Validly Baptized With the Form and Matter of Baptism as Subscribed by Jesus Christ

Believing and Professing the Required Teachings of the Catholic Church on Faith and Morals

Participate in the Communion of the Church by Living a Sacramental Life of Obedience of the Faith